Zog I was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as king (1928–1939).
The House of Zogu, or Zogolli during Ottoman times and until 1922, is an Albanian dynastic family whose roots date back to the early 20th century. The family provided the first president and the short-lived modern Albanian Kingdom with its only monarch, Zog I of Albania (1928–1939).
While the medieval Angevin Kingdom of Albania was a monarchy, it did not encompass the entirety of modern Albania. Although discontent among Albanian nobles emerged by 1282 due to the Angevin king's unfulfilled promises, the kingdom did not end at that time. Instead, Albanian nobles sought the support of the Roman Emperor in Constantinople, but Angevin rule continued in the region for several more decades. During the Middle Ages there have been many different Albanian nobles who called themselves ruler of Albania, including Dhimitër Progoni, Andrea II Muzaka, Karl Thopia, and Skanderbeg.
Leka, Prince of Albania is the current head of the House of Zogu, the former royal family of Albania.
Krujë is a town and a municipality in north-central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana.
Sadije Toptani was queen mother of Albania from September 1928 until her death. She was the mother of Zog I of Albania.
Spiro Theodori Moisiu, born as Spiro Koxhobashi, was the Major general of the Albanian National Liberation Army during World War II. He was the father of the former President of Albania, Alfred Moisiu.
Colonel Fiqri Dine was Prime Minister of Albania under Nazi Germany's military occupation. He was the chieftain of the Dine clan from Debar.
Mustafa Merlika-Kruja was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence. He was Prime Minister of Albania during the Italian occupation from December 4, 1941, to January 19, 1943.
Fejzi Bey Alizoti was an Albanian politician who served as the chairman of the central administration of Albania from January 1916 to October 1918. He was the first interim prime minister of Albania.
Prince Xhelal Zogu was scion of the House of Zogu, half-brother of Zog of Albania.
The Order of Skanderbeg was originally instituted in 1925 as an order of merit of the Albanian Republic. It was replaced by the Communist government in 1945 with a new award of the same name. Skanderbeg is the national hero of the Albanian people.
The National Liberation Movement, also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created on 16 September 1942, in a conference held in Pezë, a village near Tirana, and was led by Enver Hoxha. Apart from the figures which had the majority in the General Council it also included known nationalists like Myslim Peza although the Partisans under Yugoslav influence ended up executing numerous Albanian nationalist figures. In May 1944, the Albanian National Liberation Front was transformed into the government of Albania and its leaders became government members, and in August 1945, it was replaced by the Democratic Front.
The Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo was an Albanian organization founded in Shkodër on 1 May 1918. It mainly consisted of the political exiles from Kosovo and was led by Hoxha Kadri from Pristina. It had existed in looser form since May 1915.
The Legality Movement were an Albanian royalist and pro-monarchy faction founded in 1941. It was led by Abaz Kupi.
Muharrem Bajraktari was an Albanian Muslim guerrilla fighter from Lumë in northern Albania, and a political figure during World War II.
Prenk Pervizi was an Albanian military figure, General of the Albanian army, who also served as Minister of Defence for a short period during World War II. Pervizi attended the Military Academy in Vienna, Austria, from 1914 to 1918, and later in Torino, 1930–1933. As a military figure, he was a protagonist in the foreground of Albanian history in the years between 1918 and 1944. Friend and right-hand man of King Zog, he remained loyal from the beginning to the end to him and the Albanian Kingdom, 1928–1939. During World War II he was involved in military operations. Recruited by the Italians and sent to the first line of combat, he came into conflict with them, withdrawing the Albanian troops from the Greco-Italian War. He also opposed the German SS troops recruitment process in Albania. Bitter opponent of the communists, after failed attempts to engage some serious support from the British emissaries, he was forced to exile, first in Greece and later in Belgium as a political refugee. He spent the rest of his life in Belgium, where he died at age 80, on 6 September 1977.
"Free Albania" National Committee, also known as "Free Albania" National-Democratic Committee, also National Committee for a Free Albania or NCFA, was a political organization of post-World War II Albanian emigres based in the Western countries. It was supported by the CIA as part of the Albanian Subversion and was a member of the National Committee for a Free Europe. The committee's aim was organizing the Albanian diaspora and cooperating with western powers in overthrowing Enver Hoxha's Communist regime in Albania.
The committee's creation was initiated in Rome and was completed in Paris in the summer of 1949.
The Battle in the area of Tirana and Kruja took place between Albanian resistance fighters against Italian fascist occupiers of Albania.
The Albanian Civil War was an armed conflict that took place alongside World War II in Albania. The war was fought between LANÇ on one side, and Balli Kombëtar and Legality Movement on the other. The conflict was a classic confrontation between two Albanian political currents, the right-wing and the left-wing. The conflict began after the breakdown of the Mukje Agreement by the Communists, following the orders of the Yugoslav envoys stationed with them.
